Big year for Álvaro Domínguez

The centre back is said to be close to the Spanish Selección

“Incomprehensible!” That was the gut reaction of most Atleti fans after Vicente del Bosque released his latest list of players called up for Spain’s upcoming clash against Italy.

The reigning World Cup title-holders meet for a friendly match in Bari next week and once again the coach had no place for José Antonio Reyes in his 22-man squad.

It’s been four years since Pablo Ibañez was the last Atlético-player to play for La Roja, and the Rojiblanco faithful were hoping the Andalusian winger would be included in Spain’s senior squad after the great form he displayed in pre-season.

‘La Perla’ was almost single-handedly responsible for defeating Stromsgodset with three goals and an assist to his name in our 4-1 win on aggregate.

Del Bosque selects players from a wide variety of clubs, but seemingly has no place for Atleti players. The Spanish team is arguably the world’s most dominant football force on all levels, but los Colchoneros are missing out on all the glory.

But that could change.

Del Bosque named only five defenders for the game against the Azzurri, and if any of the players were to miss the match due to injury, then Álvaro Domínguez is said to be one of the prime candidates to receive a call.

The centre back is coming off of an excellent performance in the tournament in Denmark where he clinched the European U-21 Championship title with Spain, and Del Bosque hinted earlier that the stars from La Rojita, also including Thiago from Barcelona and our new signing Adrián, would be given a chance with the senior side.

The call up would be a big reward for the 22-year old, who is on a comeback after a disappointing 2010/11 campaign with Atleti.

The defender suffered under Quique Sánchez Flores after the coach had a falling out with the player’s agent and then criticised Domínguez for sticking with his representative.

Domínguez was a regular during our Europa League run but wasn’t able to hold on to his form in his second season on the first team.

Álvaro openly spoke about the uncomfortable situations he endured under Quique, who benched him and opted to play with Diego Godín and Luis Perea instead.

The two stoppers are still there and were joined by Brazilian defender Miranda this summer, but all signs indicate that new coach Gregorio Manzano is going with the left-footed youngster this year.

In pre-season, he was even handed the captain’s armband ahead of senior players like Tiago and Gabi. Antonio López, Diego Forlán, and Raúl García are presumably still ahead of Domínguez in the pecking order, but it goes to show how much the defender’s status has grown in recent weeks.

Recently, before it was announced Kun would join Manchester City, Domínguez was one of few players to speak about Agüero’s romance with Real Madrid, publicly stating the hypothetical move would show the Argentine “had no loyalty.”

The statement reeked of irony considering Álvaro himself switched sides as a 12-year old, but it showed Domínguez’s passion for and commitment to the red and white shirt.

This season Domínguez will have something to prove, but if he’s able to hold on to the form that won Spain U-21 the European title, then it can’t be long before we’ll finally have an Atlético-player donning La Roja’s red shirt again.

Do you think Álvaro Domínguez will secure a starting spot on the team this year, or would you rather see a centre back duo composed of any combination of Godín, Miranda or Perea?

Urban

I love this guy. He makes mistakes but he is still way more reliable than Perea, and he is canterano.

My lineup: Silvio – Godin – Dominator – Filipe

And how dB treats Reyes is just freaking outrageous. He is way better than Cazorla.

dB inherited the team after Aragones and he has almost no idea of his own how to run it.

Veiko

If you should bench someone its Perea. Dominguez will make a great step forward this year and hopefully partnership great with Godin/Miranda !

Davide

Reyes is still the victim of something arrogant he said about Bosque way back when he as playing for Arsenal. I don’t exactly rememner what is was. Even though Reyes has been performing again for 2-3 years now, Bosque has been in charge of La Roja and Reyes will most probably not be wearing the La Roja shirt for some time. Also Del Bosque actually hinted at the Reyes issue before world cup selections, he said the team has no space for selfish players.

Mais

anyone know a good site to buy tix to a match that theyd recommend? with pick-up at the stadium or etickets?

Urban, although I like dominguez too and I think he will grow into a regular on the first national team, Perea seems to have cured himself of the clown moves he used to do a couple of years ago. It was almost a given that he would single handledly screw up games for us. But last year and the prior year as well, he has shown his best side and he is very reliable now and has great speed, in fact he is probably the fastest guy on the team now.

Mais

thank u javi!

javi

no problema amigo

Ringo

Hopefully both Koke and Dominguez will become part of the team’s backbone this year, they have starter-quality already, I already rate them higher than their competition, hopefully that’s not just me…

Sergio Lopez

If Juan Valera leaves, Alvaro Dominguez will have more chances to play in the line-up. Frankly speaking, I’m in two minds over Joao Miranda’s arrival & Luis Perea’s presence. Diego Godin, Alvaro Dominguez & one of them would be enough as we need to give Jorge Pulido a chance.

Sergio Lopez

As for Reyes, I would say that Vicente Del Bosque has overlooked the best Spanish winger (if Andres Iniesta isn’t considered as a wide-man). I feel sorry for ‘La Perla’…

goal.com reports the arrival of falcao is not improbable.with the the front 4 of turan-falcao-forlan-reyes,with diego as the playmaker(wishful thinking?)and salvio and juanfran on the bench atletico will be irresistable.